Alumni work raises £1.4m for Gallery

Work donated by Goldsmiths alumni who went on to become some of the biggest names in the contemporary art world has sold for more than £1.4 million at Christie’s on Thursday 12 February, to raise funds for a new gallery on campus. Damien Hirst (BA Fine Art, 1989) donated Ipratropium Bromide, which had an estimated sale price of £250,000-350,000, and sold for £542,500. Sarah Lucas (BA Fine Art, 1987) donated Nahuiolin (estimated at £120,000 – £180,000) and sold for £266,500. Antony Gormley (BA Fine Art, 1977) donated a sculpture, Another Time XX, which sold for £194,500.

The money raised brings us closer to our £2.8m fundraising target for the Gallery at Goldsmiths project. The Gallery will provide an inspiring teaching, learning and events space for future generations of Goldsmiths students and the local community. It will also host an international programme of exhibitions, residencies and projects, stimulating inventive and original work while simultaneously contributing toward new research.

Dr Richard Noble, Head of the Department of Art at Goldsmiths, commented:

“Through the overwhelming generosity of our illustrious alumni we have raised the incredible sum of £1.4m that will enable us to create a new centre for contemporary art in south London. The Gallery at Goldsmiths will offer a unique, research-driven programme of exhibitions, projects and residencies. The exhibition and events programme will reflect the dynamic culture of making and researching visual art at Goldsmiths by acting as a laboratory, generating new art works, new exhibitions and new research projects, benefiting a diverse audience including Goldsmiths students, local residents and international art world. We are eternally grateful to all of the artists and collectors who contributed to today’s auction, and to Christie’s for their ongoing support.”

Alumna, Fiona Rae (BA Fine Art, 1987) met James, one of our students to talk about her time at Goldsmiths and the work she is donating to the Gallery Project: